Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Hot Air, Theories, and the Mystery of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370

Shortly after midnight on March 8, 2014 Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 took off from Kuala Lumpur with a crew of 12 and 227 passengers. They headed toward Beijing, then turned to the west and just disappeared. Eventually it became clear that it had headed into the southern Indian Ocean and was presumed to have crashed.

There still is no physical evidence. What we know came only from radio transmissions and sonar pings. When will this mystery be solved? Perhaps in two to five years, based on what occurred after the crash of Air France Flight 447.

Much of what I have seen on television and read merely is hot air - theories that have no basis, and should be called fairy tales. These stories tell you nothing about the crash, but a lot about the prejudices of those who tell them. They made me think of a movie line spoken the Major T. J. Kong, the B-52 pilot in Dr. Strangelove:

“Well I've been to one World's Fair, a picnic, and a rodeo, and that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard...”

About Me

This blog is about public speaking. The author is Richard I. Garber, ACS, a Toastmaster. From July 2008 to June 2010 he was Vice President-Education for Capitol Club Toastmasters in Boise, Idaho. Opinions expressed on this blog are those of the author alone, and are not the official positions of Toastmasters International, etc.
Richard is retired. He has over twenty years of experience as a consultant on failure analysis (figuring out why things busted or rusted) and a Ph.D. in Metallurgical Engineering & Materials Science.
His email is r_i_garber at hotmail.com

DISCLAIMER

We don’t necessarily believe what we write, and neither should you. Information furnished to you is for topical (external) use only. This information actually may not be worth any more than what you paid for it (nothing). The author may not even have been either sane (or sober) when he wrote it down and posted it. Don’t worry, be happy.